Not In Our City

On Sunday, I had another painful encounter with missionaries. I was in my wheelchair, heading up Ben Yehuda st., and suddenly I heard, “Jews must see the light! Jews must recognize Yehoshua!” This guy, who sounded American, continued shouting through a microphone. I immediately reacted. I came up to him and told him to “shut up, go to hell, f-ck Jesus.” I couldn’t help myself. I was so outraged that this guy was saying these things in the middle of Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish People. No one else was doing anything. Everyone was just passing by like it was another fine Sunday afternoon. I couldn’t stop. I saw a group of people standing with him. I shouted at them too. One guy even gave me a plastic bag full of coins, thinking that would shut me up. I threw it back at him. The guy with the microphone continued. I started chasing after him. They started telling me Jesus will save me, and take all the venom out of my soul. This only provoked me further. I started screaming for other people to help. I said in Hebrew, “They’re missionaries! Help me!” People just stared blankly. The man with the microphone began to move, to get away from me. Finally, some others started to yell at the missionaries. They told me “Calm down, you’ll get sick, it’s not worth it! Go home!.” My response was, “You’re not doing anything! This is like Germany in the 1930’s! We didn’t do anything!” I continued chasing the guy with the microphone, who then stood on a planter and continued his rant.

Finally, six young policewomen came by, and asked the guy to stop, because it was upsetting me so much. I asked them if it was legal, and they said it was. They sweetly offered me water, and one even supplied a straw for me. But the missionaries did not move, so I continued my pursuit. The police told me to stop. I asked them to please arrest me. They answered, “God forbid! Just calm down!” It ended when I heard one of them discuss calling an ambulance. That got me scared; I imagine a straight-jacket. I said, “todah rabah,” and started to leave. A minute later I looked back, and did not see the missionaries anymore.

I feel so strongly, how dare people come to our city wanting to convert us to Christianity, after 2,000 years of being persecuted and killed in the name of Jesus! Don’t we deserve some peace in our own country? Would they go to Ramallah and start announcing that the Muslims should find Jesus? They wouldn’t dare. Even the Pope declared that missionaries shouldn’t missionize to Jews.

This is not the first time I have done this. In past encounters, attractive women come up to me and feign interest. After a few minutes, I figure out what’s going on. These people prey on the weak. But I don’t want to continue screaming like a crazy person. I want to do something constructive. I would like other people to join me. I would like to stand outside the Jews for Jesus office at 9 am when they open, and show them our intense displeasure. Maybe we can help to make new laws, restricting their right to publicly evangelize. I want to stop this obscenity from going on in our capital.

I do believe in free speech, but isn’t it like shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater? Please write to me if you feel passionate about this issue and want to do something about it.